Going the Extra Mile

The Extra Mile

One of the famous statements of President Mahinda Rajapakse in his pre-election manifesto, that was later referred to as his 'Chintanaya', is that he will go the "extra mile" to negotiate with the terrorist Prabhakaran. In the following Essay Tissaranee Gunasekara reminds us of this famous statement. It is appropriate that this be recalled because some of the so-called "patriots" who back the President seem to forget it.

In fact the President has not only gone an extra mile but had gone several thousand miles all the way to Geneva to meet the LTTE. He has not achieved the "peace" that he promised his followers, in fact peace has become even further away. The LTTE has escalated the attacks on the Government forces and all he can do is to exercise his celebrated "restraint and patience". Even though it is becoming increasingly clear that no amount of "negotiation" will persuade the LTTE to abandon their twin goals of annexing the Jaffna peninsula and Trincomalee to the de facto Eelaam that has been given since 2002. In Geneva1 the President gave international recognition to the CFA and the Eelaam that it created.

According to Tisaranee the principal victims of this policy of "extra mile negotiation" are the Tamils who are said to be "attacked" by Sinhalese. According to her the Sinhala civilians attack innocent Tamils because of LTTE killing of soldiers and sailors. But these attacks, even if they took place, are not retaliation for the killing of soldiers but the massacre of villagers in the border regions. To quote a recent example on 23 April 2006 several farmers working in their fields at Gomarakadawala near Trincomalee were killed by LTTE agents. Muslim non-combatants too have been killed by the LTTE. Of course no one can justify relatiatory killings, but it is a desperate measure at the failure of the Government to enforce law and order that leads to this kind of outrage. The sequence of events as given by Tisaranee seems to exonerate the Tamils who are treated as the innocent victims. But other victims, like the farmers of Gomarakadawala, are also innocent victims. To defend the one and not the other shows a funadamental bias. Tisaranee's claim of "Sinhala mobs" attacking "Tamil civilians" gives a completely distorted picture of the tragic events that are happening in the Trincomalee district. For this there are two principal causes. One is the racist terrorism of the LTTE aimed at ethnic cleansing, the other is the President's policy of "going the extra mile". Terminology like "Sinhala goons" and "beleaguered Tamils" gives a distorted impression. There are goons in all ethnic groups, and the Sinhala residents in Trincomalee are perhaps even more beleaguered than the Tamils.

Tisaranee claims that "the Rajapakse administration is not servile towards the Tigers (like the Wickremesinghe administration) or favourably disposed towards the Tigers (like the Chandrika Bandaranaike administration)". Both claims are wrong. There is no difference in the servility to and the favourable disposition towards the LTTE by the Rajapakse administration when compared to its predecessors. In fact on both counts MahindaR has gone more towards placating the LTTE. Why Tisaranee seems to support the Rajapakse administration despite its leaning towards the LTTE, which Tisaranee seems to regard as the principal villain, is difficult to understand. Perhaps she realises that MahindaR is not the saviour of the Sinhala Buddhists as many of the latter like to portray him. After all he has has made many concessions to the Christians like opposing the proposed law against unethical conversion, and this deserves commendation by Tisaranee who has not revealed her religious orientation.

The basic flaw in Tisaranee's argument is that she seems to think that there is a substantial anti-LTTE Tamil movement. There is no evidence to support this hypothesis. None of the anti-LTTE Tamils have succeeded in recent elections. She says that the "democratically elected" Trinco Pradesheeya Sabha is controlled by the TNA an LTTE front. Tamil MPs representing the Northern Tamils are also TNA. It is easy to say that these TNA people came to power by terrorist threats. The reality is that the bulk of the Tamils support the LTTE. Groups like the UTHR and Anadasangaree constitute a distinct minority of Tamils. Giving them Federalism as Tisaranee seems to advocate will not solve problem of racist separatism. It will provide a new platform to the LTTE to pursue their terrorist goals. The only anti-LTTE Tamil group with any clout is the Karuna group. But this is as racist and terrorist as the Wanni LTTE. The quote which Tisaranee gives from Karuna alone bears this out.

Tisaranee says: "The Tamil people need a protector as well as an entity that can act as a transmission belt between the Tamils and the authorities". In a democratic state which is non-racist there is no need for for "protectors" for racial or religious groups. All persons should have the same voting power, and the same rights and obligations. The "authorities" should not be an alien entity but the creation of the people as a whole. The "Transmission belt" is exactly what the LTTE try to create in the form of a racist apartheid state. Ultimately despite all her superficial criticism of the LTTE this is the logical outcome of the policy that Tisaranee too advocates. If they are any anti-LTTE Tamils they have to be found in the South living amongst the Sinhalese. Obviously they do not need a "transmission belt". So why should the Tamils of the North?